Donald Trump's former chief strategist Steve Bannon is likely headed to prison after an appeals court upheld his conviction for contempt of Congress.

He was handed a four-month sentence in 2022 for refusing to give evidence to a congressional investigation into the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

But it was put on hold as he appealed, saying that he acted in good faith by following legal advice and that he was barred from including critical evidence at his trial. 

The decision came on Friday when the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected his challenge.

'Bannon insists that 'wilfully' should be interpreted to require bad faith and argues that his non-compliance does not qualify because his lawyer advised him not to respond to the subpoena,' wrote Judge Bradley Garcia.

But, he continued, the court's position is that 'willfully' only means deliberately.

'Because we have no basis to depart from that binding precedent, and because none of Bannon's other challenges to his conviction have merit, we affirm.' 

Bannon was one of a string of Trump allies who refused to obey a subpoena to testify before the House investigation into the Jan. 6 violence, claiming 'executive privilege' protected conversations and other information related to the presidency.

He was held in contempt by the House on a largely party lines votes in October 2021.

And sentencing Judge Carl Nichols said he had no grounds to claim privilege, given that he had left the White House years before the events on Jan. 6.